COURSE CARE

Does Your Divot Pattern Help Or Hurt The Golf Course?
September 16, 2014
By Ty A. McClellan

To maximize use of your practice range tee, consider the impact that divot patterns have on turf removal and rotation of tee stalls. (USGA)

Golfers love to practice. But have you
ever wondered how the pattern of your divots on the practice range tee affects
the golf course? With every swing of an iron, a divot of turf is usually removed.
A small bucket of golf balls (typically 25 or 30 balls) can remove a lot of
turf. And if you’re really working on your short game it is not uncommon to hit
100 shots or more. This means a lot of divots which require a lot of turf
recovery before a tee stall may be returned to the same location.

Golfers have a big impact on the amount
of turf coverage and performance of practice range tees. How one practices not
only influences how much turf is removed with each swing, but also how quickly
the turf will recover. The three most common divot patterns – scattered,
concentrated and linear – can be seen in the photo.

A scattered
divot pattern removes the most amount of turf because a full divot is
removed with every swing. Scattering divots results in the most turf loss and
uses up the largest area of a tee stall. This forces the golf facility to
rotate tee stalls most frequently and often results in an inefficient use of
the tee.

A concentrated
divot pattern removes all turf in a given area. While this approach does
not necessarily result in a full-sized divot removed with every swing, by
creating a large void in the turf canopy there is little opportunity for timely
turf recovery.

The linear
divot pattern involves placing each shot directly behind the previous
divot. In so doing, a linear pattern is created and only a small amount of turf
is removed with each swing. This can usually be done for 15 to 20 shots before
moving sideways to create a new line of divots. So long as a minimum of 4
inches of live turf is preserved between strips of divots, the turf will
recover quickly. Because this divot pattern removes the least amount of turf
and promotes quick recovery, it is the preferred method.

Placing signage in the golf shop and on
practice range tees can be an effective way to encourage golfers to adopt the
linear divot pattern at your golf facility.

For more information on how your divot
pattern has significant season-long implications at your facility, please see
the article Practice
Like a Pro.

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